Enormous 'polar vortex' on the sun is unprecedented, scientists say [View all]

By Brandon Specktor published 3 days ago

A long, looping filament of plasma snapped over the sun's north pole, creating a 'polar vortex' that scientists can't explain.



A satellite image of the sun shows a looping filament of plasma breaking off of the sun and forming a vortex around the star's north pole. (Image credit: NASA/ Solar Dynamics Observatory)

On Feb. 2, a massive tentacle of plasma snapped apart in the sun's atmosphere before tumbling down, circling the star's north pole at thousands of miles a minute, and then disappearing — leaving scientists baffled.

The entire spectacle, which lasted about 8 hours, went viral on Twitter when Tamitha Skov(opens in new tab), a science communicator and research scientist at The Aerospace Corporation in California, posted footage(opens in new tab) of the event captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

"Talk about Polar Vortex!" Skov tweeted. "Material from a northern prominence just broke away from the main filament and is now circulating in a massive polar vortex around the north pole of our Star."

What does this all mean? Essentially, a long filament of plasma — the electrically charged gas that all stars are made of — shot out of the sun's surface, creating a huge looping feature called a prominence. These structures are common and can loop into space for hundreds of thousands of miles as solar plasma spirals along tangled magnetic field lines.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/enormous-polar-vortex-on-the-sun-is-unprecedented-scientists-say